1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications within unplanned user deployable networks, and more specifically, to infrastructure assisted discovery procedures in peer-to-peer wireless networks.
2. Background
Peer-to-peer (“P2P”) networks are commonly used for connecting nodes via adhoc connections. These networks differ from the traditional client-server model where communications are usually with a central server. A peer-to-peer network may consist solely of peer nodes that communicate directly with one another, or may include a small number of servers to provide various services to the nodes in the network. These networks are useful for efficiently sharing files, media streaming, telephony, real-time data applications, and other communications.
In peer-to-peer networks supporting mobile nodes, various discovery and acquisition procedures are employed as the nodes move throughout the coverage region of the network. The process of discovering nodes in the network generally begins with the broadcast of a discovery signal. If a node detects a discovery signal from another node, it may initiate an acquisition procedure to set up a communication session using paging and access mechanisms defined by the network.
In order to conserve battery power, nodes typically do not continuously broadcast a discovery signal. Instead, the node remains in a low power state, or sleep mode, most of the time and wakes up periodically to broadcast a discovery signal. This procedure has been moderately successful in reducing power consumption for a node in a non-communicative state. However, there still may be times where the node is consuming excess power. By way of example, a node that periodically broadcasts a discovery signal when it is out of the coverage region of the network is unnecessarily consuming power. Accordingly, there is a need in the art to improve the way discovery is managed in peer-to-peer networks. These improvements should be applicable to other networks as well.